Alex
by Carole Cronan Seitz
Summary: The new VP gets a new chief of staff
1. Chapter 1

His voice was calm and steady as he responded to her telephone greeting. A very short conversation, "I need you, please come!" She asked no questions, she only said yes. He told her of the car that was on the way and the chartered plane that was waiting at the airport. He always knew where she was recently. This was going to be interesting to say the least. Alex was the only one who could handle the "situation". Bob Russell had had enough. Time to make things complicated. God, he had missed her.

Alex sat in the charter plane that Bob had sent to pick her up. He had failed to mention that the trip included a secret service detail. Alex smiled as contemplated her response to the arrogance of lead agent. Then she turned back to the notebook given to her on the plane. The file on her main target was very detailed. Weakness assessments were her strong suit. Her intellect was in the top one percent of the industrialized world. Her vixenish temperament was a very valued commodity on the open market. This should be fun! A quick look though the other files in the database was equally as valuable.

As the Lear came to a halt near the small motorcade, Alex's secret service detail sprang into action. One of them was on the phone to ascertain the whereabouts of the Vice President. That was their mission, to deliver one Alexis Catherine McNulty to the Vice President of the United States upon arrival in Washington, DC. Only when the jet was at a complete standstill with all agents in place, did Alex rise from her seat and put on her long black leather coat. The agents reminded her of full sized carved Indian figure in front of the Clarks Brother fireworks store. They showed no emotion. Their faces almost wooden, they showed no emotion. After she pulled her straight red hair from beneath her coat collar, she picked up her laptop and strode toward the exit. As she emerged from the cabin, she enjoyed the first flitters of snow in the air. She allowed herself to be guided to the limousine in the middle of the three cars on the tarmac. Two agents in the first car, two in the last car, one driving the limo and another next to her in the backseat. "I don't suppose any sightseeing is in order" she said with a sarcastic smirk to Jeremiah, the head of her security detail. "No ma'am, he was very specific!" said the wooden faced secret service agent. "So where are we going?" she said with a wistful sigh. "The West Wing!" was his only response.

Vice President Robert Russell was having cocktails with the President, Mrs. Bartlett and some senior staff members. Abigail Bartlett noticed that Robert seemed distracted. As she joined her husband and the Vice President, she was certain of it. Jed would not notice immediately, but pretty soon he would.

The limousine glided up to the West Wing entrance as if on air. Alex emerged as the door was opened by the valet. The snow was coming down heavier now. She inhaled deeply enjoying the chilling effect and steadying her nerves. She had definitely felt underdressed for this occasion. Leather and the west wing definitely did not mix.

Deborah Fiderer was in the midst a provoking day. The President was being more irascible then normal. Now she had a call from the gate telling her a guest was arriving to meet with the Vice President as per his instructions. Directly behind the page, entered a dynamo, in her mid 30s, shoulder length red hair, green eyes, alabaster skin wearing an open full length black leather coat, black leather pants, stiletto heels, and lace edged Victoria Secret no sleeve tee-shirt. Alex smiled as she watched the President's secretary appraised her appearance. First impressions were tricky, with some a smile helped others it didn't. She could not tell which group Ms. Fiderer fell in. This should be interesting. Deborah nodded as she said, "I'll announce you!" and walked to a door on the right. Alex took off her coat before following at a discreet distance. Debra relieved her of the coat as she entered the Oval Office.

Male heads turned expectantly as the petite lady entered the room. Speculation ran rampant as to who she was when the group got their first glimpse of Alex. Abby leapt into action after a few tense seconds at Alex's entrance. "Hello, I'm Abbey Bartlett. I'm so glad you could make it! Have you met my husband?" Alex looked at Mrs. Bartlett and said, "No, I don't think I've had the pleasure! Please excuse my appearance; I had no idea that I was meeting Bob here." Before the President could utter a word, Bob had slipped his hand on her waist. "This is totally my fault!" said Robert "I told them to bring her to me wherever I was." "Mr. President, ma'am, I would like to introduce you to my new chief of staff."

©February 29, 2004 by Carole Cronan, all rights reserved.


	2. Chapter 2

The door had barely shut to the Vice President's Office when Alex said through clenched teeth, "How the hell could you do that to me? I have not agreed to be your chief of anything. You said you needed my help. I came. I put up with your Boy Scout secret service agents. Don't you think that was tad ostentatious? Someone is going to clue to this, trust me."

Bob waited for Alex to take a breath before saying, "You need the position to do what I need you to do. And if you think that some don't already know, you are a lunatic" Alex closed her eyes and chuckled smiling, "I am a lunatic; haven't you heard? That's why you need me now." Alex threw her coat on a brocade chair in front of Bob's desk. As she settled herself into a leather couch by the wall to left, "So if this is the way you're going to play it we need to talk to Will now before he hears it somewhere else."

The slamming of an outer door and the abrupt entry of Will Bailey as he marched into the Vice President's office put an end to that notion. "What the hell is this about me being replaced? You couldn't even give me a heads up? What did I do wrong," Will yelled at Bob Russell before anyone could say a word. Bob walked over to Will and said, "You have not been replaced. You still are unofficially my chief of staff because I need Alex here to take care of a problem I see between you and Toby Ziegler. Who told you that you were replaced?" Somewhat calmer, Will said, "Toby did," shaking his head. "He was almost gleeful when he told me," he said bitterly.

The problem between Will and Toby had started when Will wrote the second inauguration speech for the President and had gone downhill since then. Toby would not show up for meetings and when he did show up he would dictate policy like the vice president's office was subordinate not worthy of consultation. This attitude had permeated the president's staff to such an extent that no work between the camps was getting done.

"Now you see why I need Alex here, she's going to fix the situation," said Bob as he seated himself behind his desk. Will looked at the beautiful woman on the leather couch in astonishment. She looked as though she was in her late 20s. Slender figure with piercing eyes. "Bob, how on earth is she going to do that? She looks barely out of grad school. No one is going to take her seriously. They are going to think she's your new girlfriend." A silvery tinkle of laughter came from Alex's direction. When Will looked over at her, her amusement gave way to contempt at the assumption that she was the Vice President's girlfriend. "Let me assure you that I'm not his girlfriend and you have no idea what my credentials are. Of course if you're any good at your job, you'll know by tomorrow morning all about me.

Vice President Russell drew himself up and turned to Will. "Let me make this crystal clear. Alex is going to fix the problem with coordination between the West Wing and this office. It was bad enough when Toby decided to write that insulting speech about me when I was chosen but treating my staff like this is not acceptable. You will follow her lead. Now I have an appointment; you two get this settled." Bob Russell turned on his heel and went out with his secret service detail surrounding him.

Alex motioned Will down on the couch next to her. Alex sighed and said, "Okay here are the rules. You will follow my lead no matter what. Do not disagree with me when anyone else is around except Bob. You're still in charge of political activities. I'm in charge of Toby Ziegler and interoffice cooperation."

Will Bailey was impressed by the control exuded by this dynamo. He didn't know how she would fix it but she'd fix it. He had no doubts. "First order of business is that I need an office. Get me one as close to this one as possible," Alex said. "Actually, if we are going to do this right; you should have my office for appearances," said Will speculatively, "And you need an assistant." Watching Will closely Alex said, "I hate to ask this but could you be my assistant for the time being? That would make things seamless. You would be in the know politically and I can handle the other problem. I'm not saying this will be easy but it does cover loose ends." Will shook his head and thought 'how did anyone say no to this woman?' "Okay, you have an assistant. I'll go get you a secretary to manage your office," Will say with a satisfied grin. "I won't forget this Will. I owe you one," as he went out to see to his tasks.

Once he was gone, Alex pulled out her cell phone and made a succession of phone calls, last of which was to her mother explaining the sudden trip and asking if she could use the condo in Falls Church while she was here. Once her mother acquiesced Alex went to the outer office and told her Secret Service detail where they were going.

Later that night as Alex was lying in bed after the SS inspection of her mother's condo for security purposes. One of the agents was in the living room keeping guard through the night. As she rolled over to sleep, she wondered what she had gotten herself into.


End file.
